links for 2010-10-21

Calculations by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office and other independent fiscal experts show that the $1.1 trillion cost over the next 10 years of the Medicare prescription drug program, which the Republican-controlled Congress adopted in 2003, by itself would add more to the deficit than the combined costs of the bailout, the stimulus and the health care law. … At the same time, most Republicans are calling for the permanent extension of all Bush-era tax cuts, which would add $700 billion more to the deficit over the next 10 years than President Obama and Democratic leaders have proposed by continuing only some of the lower rates.

"Over the past few weeks I’ve watched several video contributions for the It Gets Better project, and while this is not a scientific assertion, I do feel comfortable in making the generalization that an overwhelming amount of the stories I’ve heard inevitably follow a trajectory in which the gay person in question moves away from their hometown — and almost always to a larger metropolitan city where gays are known to migrate. This emerging subtext is kind of impossible to ignore considering such an important piece of fine print. It’s like, Hey! It gets better! But only after you leave your family behind and run away from that horrible place where you grew up." – Norman Brannon has some thoughts about how to improve stuff now for gay kids.

"Charles Koch, whose wealth Forbes magazine calculates at about $21.5 billion, argues in his letter that “prosperity is under attack by the current administration and many of our elected officials.” He repeatedly warns about the “internal assault” and “unrelenting attacks” on freedom and prosperity." – Really? Who the hell is prosperous right now in America? Because those are the folks we need to be investigating for white collar crime.